CUNA asks Congress to ensure awareness of Equifax breach

CUNA wrote to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Tuesday expressing concerns about the Equifax data breach’s effect on loan underwriting. The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on digital commerce and consumer protection conducted a hearing on the breach Tuesday, with former Equifax CEO and Chairman Richard Smith testifying.

“CUNA has voiced its intent to file a lawsuit to protect credit unions and their members from harm resulting from the Equifax data breach. The breach has harmed and will harm credit unions and their members,” Nussle wrote. “Hackers had access to highly sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) and payment card data for months exposing credit unions to damages in replacing members’ payment cards, covering fraudulent purchases and taking protective measures to reduce risk of identity theft and loan fraud and assuming financial responsibility for various types of fraudulent activity related to stolen identities and misuse of PII and payment card data.”

In his letter, Nussle asked the subcommittee leadership, along with other members of Congress, to “ensure that consumers impacted have been properly notified and that Equifax has taken all measures to ensure consumers are not at further risk.

Nussle also pointed out that Equifax, along with the other credit reporting agencies, are “integral to the loan underwriting process facilitating the extension of credit by credit unions, banks and others to American consumers.”

Credit unions and other financial institutions both provide Equifax with consumer information and purchase information to analyze credit worthiness.

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